>> mitchell: tonight, black friday record. retailers report their wiggest day after thanksgiving sales ever, but will consumers keep up the pace? elaine quijano is tracking the shoppers. pakistan's government demands the u.s. evacuate a key airbase an apparent nato blunder kills at least 25 pakistani soldiers. the space rover "curiosity" launches towards mars. a report on the multibillion-dollar fission noigz figure out if life could exist on the red planet. and a rebound for the n.b.a. and the planets. tony guida looks at the tentative agreement to start the basketball season on christmas day. captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. some encouraging news for the economy tonight. new figures out this evening show retail sales yesterday were the biggest in black friday history. up 6. the 6% over last year for a total of $11.4 well. that's a full billion more than 2010. as elaine quijano tells us, the hopeful predictions follow the earliest black friday opening ever. >> reporter: the turkey wasn't even cold when toys "r" us opened the holiday shopping season at 9:00 p.m. thanksgiving night. santa hats were passed out to customers to encourage a fustive mood for black friday spending. >> retailers have having to be more and more aggressive to go after their customers. >> reporter: so aggressive, retailers opened the night before in an all-out fight for that first piece of holiday spending projected to be $466 billion this year. >> with consumers being frugal, retailers really took a chance by opening at midnight on black

friday. they were relieved to see the thousands of people coming in for those great deals that they're offering this year. >> reporter: the strategy worked. according to an overnight survey by america's research group, the number of black friday shoppers increased 14% over last year. >> i come for the deals. absolutely. there's nothing better than black friday to buy stuff. >> reporter: but early birds had their own strategy. they stuck to their lists. equacy kate% shopped with a specific list and 75% bought their discounted items and nothing else. the return of an old tradition, layaway, brought cash-strapped consumers into stores. >> you can buy, like, $300 worth of stuff and only pay $20 here, $10 there. i can pay other bills on top of buying my kids what they want. >> reporter: holiday shopping usually accounts for up about 40% of annual sales. >> you doing some christmas shopping? >> yes. >> yeah. not yet? oh, we're starting early. >> reporter: to set an

example, president obama went shopping in washington with his daughters today to help boost small retailers. but for those who haven't started yet, retail analysts marshal cohen says stores will continue to offer bargains throughout the season. >> retailers are just going to be consistently offering deal after deal to try to lure the consumer in. >> reporter: there might be deals for weeks but that doesn't mean shoppers will buy more. a cbs news poll says 41% of americans plan to spend less than last year while about half say they'll spend about the same and, russ, just 9% say they'll spend more. >> mitchell: elaine quijano, thank you very much. three footnotes now to the black friday kickoff. a woman suspected the pepper spraying fellow shoppers in los angeles thursday night turned herself in today but was released pending further investigation. police in myrtle beach, south carolina, are looking for the wal-mart parking lot gunman who shot a woman in the leg early friday morning. and phoenix police booked jerald allen newman on charges of shoplifting and resisting arrest.

the youtube video of his arrest provoked charges of police brutality. newman says he is innocent. america's already troubled relationship with pakistan is under new strain tonight. pakistan is accusing nato helicopters of killing at least 25 pakistani soldiers in an attack on army outposts along the border with afghanistan. in response, pakistan has ordered the u.s. to shut down a major airbase. whit johnson is in washington this evening with the latest. whitt, good evening. >> reporter: russ, good evening. nato forces would not intentionally target pakistani troops so this i so-called a min the heat of battle but it's the kind of mistake the u.s. can ill afford. as coalition forces battled insurgents along the poorly defined afghanistan-pakistan border, nato aircrafts hit two pakistanis outposts. >> support was called in, in the develop the of the tactical situation. and it is what highly likely caused pakistan casualties. >> reporter: giving few

details, isaf spokesman carsten jacobson immediately promised an investigation. >> we don't know numbers. we tonight know the magnitude of the incident. >> reporter: pakistan's prime minister condemned what he called an attack on the nation's sovereignty. in the first ultimate am of the kind, his government gave the united states 15 days to advocate shamsi airbase, the unofficial hub for drone strikes in pakistan. pakistan also sealed off crucial overland supply routes, which in recent months accounted for 30% of all cargo bound for u.s. forces in afghanistan. >> it is like putting a finger at the jugular vein of a human being, literally, in terms of the war machine. >> reporter: akbarahmed, chair of islamic studies at american university, says the killing of pakistani soldiers risks angering the nation as much as the bin laden raid, a surprise attack on pakistani soil. on the flip side, the united states blames pakistan for

harboring militants that kill coalition forces and even attacked the u.s. embassy in kabul. is this a deal breaker for the relationship between the u.s. and pakistan? >> i don't think so. i think pakistan, certainly the establishment, including the military establishment, understand the importance of a close alliance with the united states. >> reporter: late today, the white house extended condolences for the loss of life. military experts tell us evicting the u.s. from shamsi airbase will have some operational impact but drones can be and are launched from elsewhere, including afghanistan. the closure of supply routes, hoyer, is likely more damaging as cargo and fuel trucks back up at the border. russ. >> mitchell: whit johnson of our washington bureau, thank you very much. relative calm returned to cairo today. at least 40 people died in this last week's extreme and sudden violence in tahrir square casting a pall on elections scheduled to begin on monday. >> reporter: a week into this

crisis, demonstrators in cairo were taking a break today, trying to decide how they'll approach the elections due to start on monday. but even in this lull, there, te were small pockets of violence. in one, a group of protesters tried to block access to the prime minister's office. the police arrived and after an exchange of rocks and tear gas, a police van ran over a 19-year-old man killing him. the airways and the internet are saturated with scenes of egyptian police and army brutality this past week. mona eltahawy, an egyptian american journalist, was one of them. she was taking picturees of fighting near tahrir square when riot police beat her so badly they broke both her arms. >> it's in the middle of that street over there. that's where the confrontations were taking place. >> reporter: it was wednesday at the peak of the pitched battles between protesters and security forces. tear gas canisters, rockes, and

rubber bullets were flying when suddenly mona was dragged away by police who hit her with clubs and assaulted her sexually. >> there were about four or five of them and hands all over my body, on my breasts, hands between my legs. >> reporter: after 10 harrowing hours, she was released. immediately she decided to tell her story on television. to underscore how egyptian security forces respond to anyone challenging their authority with violence. >> egypt has become a bizarre combination both a military state and police state and you combine the military power and police scour really that's all-- it's just about power, and know-- you express that power to the public at large through a fist. >> reporter: by the bye now it seems almost everyone has heard mona eltahawy's story, and they'll be aware that the same forces who broke both her arms in charge of security on monday for egypt's landmark elections. the army has said it's sorry for

the deaths that occurred during this uprising but those old authoritarian habits die hard. for example, officials to encourage people to vote have said anybody who doesn't come out and cast a ballot will be find almost $100 which is a lot of money for poor egyptians. russ. >> mitchell: elizabeth palmener cairo, thank you. those three american college students arrested last sunday during the cairo protests and then ordered free by a judge flew home today. 19-year-old drexel student greg porter was met we his parents and relatives i relatives in pha this afternoon. while 21-year-old luke gates gate, and derrik sweeney, also 19 are, scheduled to arrive home later tonight. at another middle east flash point the arab league announced new sanctions on syria including i a ban on financial dealings in all trade.

coming up, the height of curiosity. the unmanned mission that could solve the riddle of whether life exists on mars.

>> mitchell: nasa began its latest mission to mars this morning. launching an unmanned rover like no other on an eight-and-a-half-month, 354 million-mile journey to the red planet. as lee cowen reports from the jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena, california, getting to mars it only half the problem. >> and liftoff of theat las five with "curiosity." >> reporter: with this morning's launch, nasa's $2.5 billion rover, antly named "curiosity," gab its 354-million-mile journey to mars

and so far it's right on target. >> everything is looking good. >> reporter: the vehicle is the cadillac of mars rovers. it weighs almost a ton and powered by a nuclear reactor. in fact, nasa hasn't tried landing something this large and this complex since the lunar modules that put men on the moon and as exciting as today's launch was, the reality-- >> mars really is the bermuda triangle of the solar system. >> reporter: a landing has nasa nervous, especially its chief engineer rob manning. >> its maiden flight is actually-- there are no dress rehearsals. it has to work the first time. >> reporter: "curiosity" is too heavy to bounce to the surface inside a series of balloons like the previous mars rovers. instead, "curiosity" will have to be lowered the last 200 feet on cables suspended from a rocket-propelled sky crane high above. this is going to be landing gear, too, right? >> this is also the landing gear, exactly right. >> reporter: but it's a complex and risky maneuver, says cbs nos space consultant bill

harwood. >> your first blush is what were they smoking when they came up with this but it turns out it'sab elegant answer to a very difficult problem. >> reporter: past rovers found evidence of water on mars. "curiosity" will take the next step looking for chemical indicators in rocks to see if conditions were ever favorable to actually support life. those who built "curiosity" made it sturdy. it's supposed to toil away for two years. but if it's anything like its smaller cousins, "curiosity" may remain curious for a lot longer than that. lee cow an, cbs news, pasadena. mitch straight ahead, basketball for christmas. the possibility of an n.b.a. settlement is next.

>> mitchell: there's great news for sport fans this saturday. hoop dreams may be coming true for n.b.a. lovers just in time

for the holidays. openers and players have tentatively agreed to a 10-year deal that would end the lengthy lockout and open a shortened season on christmas day. tony guida has details. >> reporter: the agreement calls for a 66-game season, 16 fewer than normal. >> well, we've reached a tentative understanding. >> reporter: from the nation's top hoops lover-- >> good deal. >> reporter: ...to the fan on the street, excitement. >> i love watching these beautiful young men run, jump, leap, catch, and throw. >> reporter: it took two years of sniping and 149 days of lockout for the two sides finally to come together. the issue-- a mountain of money, how to split $4 billion. >> the owners had to win this one because the economics of the previous deal was very bad for the league, $300 million of losses. >> reporter: many loose end must be tied up before the first tip-off, but both sides seemed

confident. >> it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution. >> reporter: one super-star was over the moon at the news. kevin durelant of the oklahoma city thunder tweeted:the plan is to open the season on christmas day. the bulls and lakers and the celtics against the knicks here at mad sewn square garden. just two weeks ago, hope seemed lost. the commissioner forecasted nuclear winter for the n.b.a. >> these two parties are arm in arm, locked together. they either walk to the bank together or they walk over the cliff together. they decided to go to the bank. >> reporter: fans can bank on this-- the deal means labor peace for up to 10 years. tony guide acbs news, new york. >> mitchell: it was a memorable thanksgiving for 42-year-old san francisco giants baseball fan bryan stow. his family gathered at the rehab

facility where he's recovering from a brutal beating last march outside dodger stadium. his family said we could not feel more thankful and blessed. two men have been charged in celtic.

the philippines said said they have arrested four people for allegedly hacking intoate's' customer phone to raise money for a saudi group. investigators say the current plot cost at&t roughly $2 million. meanwhile, the boss of camera maker olympus is flying to the u.s. to meet with the f.b.i. after blowing the whistole a massive financial scandal. in tokyo, lucy craft has more. >> reporter: in tokyo, michael

woodford has incited the kind of media frenzy usual recovered for rock stars, the whistle lower and exchief of olympus says he has been unwittingly cast. >> the mention of organized crime, border battles, character assassination, you know, it's just been a surreal few weeks. >> reporter: japanese companies have long been criticized for their cozy,ed inner corporate culture. japanese themselves say the change is difficulty without something called gaiatsu, which literally translates as pressure from foreigners. shortly after he took office last summer, the 51-year-old ex-president learned that olympus, a leader in complex medical equipment for decades, had covered up losses of at least $1.5 billion through a series of bizarre investments. >> a face cream company. now, olympus is a high-tech company. it makes sophisticated medical products and cameras and

microscopes. and why would we want to compete in the cosmetibs industry with no background or knowledge? >> reporter: woodford is among only a hand full of foreigners who have run japanese companies. >> i knew if i went public, it would get attention. >> reporter: it's also gotten him some vindication. woodford was fired in october for demanding management come clean about its troubled investments and losses. but since then, three senior executives of olympus have resigned. the president apologized, and shareholders in the u.s. and around the world are demanding woodford get his old job back and a full-scale investigation of where all that money went. at stake, not just the fate of the 92-year-old olympus, but the reputation of corporate japan itself. lucy craft, cbs news, tokyo. >> mitchell: in addition to the f.b.i., woodford also meets next week with investigators at the s.e.c. and justice department. there are allegations organized crime in japan helped engineer

the olympus cover-up. coming up, children of the recession. calling the family car home.

>> mitchell: finally this evening, the promise of a holiday season is a largely empty one for the 17 million american youngsters currently living in poverty. for tomorrow night's "60 minutes," scott pelley went to central florida to visit young people forced to spend the holidays living in cars or trucks. >> reporter: thithis is the homr family, ariel 15, her brother, austin, 15. their mother died when they were very young. their dad, tom, say carpenter who has been looking for work ever since florida's construction industry collapsed. when foreclosure took their house, he bought the truck with his last $1,000. how long you have been living in this truck? >> about five months. >> reporter: what's that like? >> it's an adventure. >> that's how we see it.

>> it's not really that much of an embarrassment. i mean, it's only life. you do what you need to do, right? >> bye, daddy. >> have a good day. >> reporter: the metzgers blend in with more than 1100 homeless students in the seminole county schools. at casselberry school, we met 15 students who have been living in cars. >> well, i worried that someone would just break in and steal my mom's purse. >> reporter: jade wily is eight years old. she spent three weeks living in her car. did you think you were ever going to get out of the car? >> i thought i was going to be stuck in the car. >> reporter: and how did you get out of the car? >> well, there is this nice lady named beth, and then she gave us a lot of money so we could stay at the hotel and now i'm staying at the hotel. >> reporter: beth davalos runs programs for homeless kids in the seminole county schools. she helps them find temporary shelter but it's tough.

of all the homeless families in florida, two-thirds are living on the street. >> people are running out of resources. the unemployment runs out. their savings run out. and before you know it, they find themselves living in their car because they just ran out of all options. >> reporter: the kids we met, like the metzgers, clean up in gas stirrings ymcass. they keep up appearances by day and search for safety by night. you sound very adult to me. you had to grow up pretty fast. >> yeah. every time i see, like, a teenager or any other kid fighting with their parents or arguing with them, and, like, not doing what they're told it really hurts me because they could be in my shoes-- and of course i don't want them to be in my shoes-- but they need to learn to appreciate what they have and who they have in their life because it may be the last day they might have it. >> mitchell: and that is the

cbs evening news. i'm russ mitchell of the cbs broadcast afghanistan. he was just 19. tonight family, friends and an entire community remember how a selfless hero touched their lives. >> family, friends and an entire community remember how a selfless hero touched their lives. >> one of three american students arrested in egypt. tonight, he's back home. the first thing he says he wants to eat. and it starting out to be a banner year for retailers. how much black friday shoppers have spent to kick off the holiday season. cbs 5 eyewitness news is coming up next. ,,,,